Aspects of certain surgeries such as assessments for bariatric procedures are often desired by the physician, clinic, or even some insurance companies. This is often requested as surgeries of this nature can come with various consequences.
The most hopeful consequences are significant weight loss and
accompanying enhanced health. However, there are possibilities in variations in response to surgery, possible complications, and noticeable lifestyle changes which, if present, can impact the mental well-being of the patient and cause considerable anguish and complication to the patient’s quality of life.
Conducting a pre-surgical evaluation for certain procedures such as bariatric surgery is used as a preventative measure to ensure that the patient possesses the resiliency or coping skills to handle these
unforeseeable concerns. For instance, even if a patient is successful in losing weight, the change in diet and other factors may contribute to emotional distress and a decline in functioning.
Ruling out certain concerns assist the clinic, patient, and physician in making the most healthy and constructive decisions for the patient. The evaluation consists of gathering historical information pertaining to the emergence of weight-related issues, dieting habits, coping skills, success in previous dieting attempts, support factors, prognosis, and treatment recommendations.
The assessment will provide the examiner’s impressions of
strengths and any concerns that may need to be addressed before consideration of such a procedure. Having a history of mental health issues does not rule out an individual for surgery but is
taken into account to create a holistic perspective of the patient’s trajectory of functioning and treatment response.
These evaluations can usually be scheduled within a week and will be completed and sent to the referring entity or legal client within 2-3 business days of the evaluation.